Wild conTENTment

Dreaming of logging off, leaving the screens behind and escaping to a grassy meadow beside a quiet canal? perhaps letting the kids scamper barefoot through the field, clambering on logs and generally enjoying a bit of fresh air? It can happen. And we know a place with a punny name that fits the bill, smuggled away near the Wales-England border. What you're after is Wild ConTENTment.

It’s hard not to notice the emphasis on the 'TENT' aspect of this Shropshire site. It’s firmly focused on under-canvas stays – but that doesn’t mean you have to set up your own accommodation. In fact, there’s an even spread of camping and glamping here: three pitches for people with their own tents and two kitted-out bell tents – plus a single, quite-separate converted horse trailer. That’s just six pitches in total; the place is small on numbers but big on space, with the main camping meadow covering whopping 11 acres and set alongside a disused canal that's currently undergoing restoration. This all helps contribute to the “wild” at Wild ConTENTment.

The site is the brainchild of Susie and David on whose farm you’ll be staying. David’s family has been here for three generations, but it was only during the 2020 lockdown that they realised that sharing their space could spread a little happiness. And so they sought to offer a kind of wild camping experience – we say “kind of” as, although it’s off-grid and campfire-friendly, there are plenty of add-ons that smooth any rough edges. At the basic level, you can hire a pitch with a stone-circled fire pit and a compost loo. Next up, there’s a pitch with its own horse-box bathroom (called Beryl) complete with a flushing loo and a copper-roll top bath — it’s wild-ish camping with some serious bells on. And, if that’s not enough, there are the bell tents and Anneka the horse trailer for under-a-solid-roof, beds-are-made glamping.

For days out, there’s plenty to see on both sides of the border: waterfalls, lakes, Wroxeter, Shrewsbury, Ironbridge and Chester Zoo. If you don’t fancy getting back in the car, you can walk straight from the site to a pub, a nature reserve or you can join Offa’s Dyke Path and there's a fully stocked shop within half a mile. For activities, there’s kayaking on the Montgomery Canal and some popular local rock climbing spots too. But you might find the most satisfied smiles are found with even simpler pleasures: when your campfire catches alight, when your kids discover the rope swing or when you wake up to the sound of birdsong. That’s wild contentment, indeed.